The next day, I was left alone for most of the afternoon while everyone else tended to their own affairs. E-mail and calls were few, though Candace assured me we’d see a surge when summer truly ended and people spent more time inside. So, it was another reading day for me, and I tried to make myself as comfortable as I could on my bed, something else that was becoming more difficult with my size. No breeze came in to cool the afternoon heat, and I mostly found myself growing sleepy.

Suddenly, the temperature dropped sharply in the room, raising goose bumps on my skin. I’d been nodding off but instantly opened my eyes, wide awake. There was nothing natural about this. Shit, I thought, sitting up. Here it was, the attack we’d been dreading. And I was weaponless because I wasn’t supposed to be practicing any magic. Well, I didn’t need tools to use my gentry magic. If they were bringing the fight to me, then there was no need to remain covert—

“Volusian?” I asked in disbelief. Red eyes and a small black body materialized in the room’s darkest corner, which really wasn’t all that dark this time of day. He glared at the sunlit window in irritation. I’d been a heartbeat away from summoning a storm in the room and immediately stopped myself.

“Mistress,” he said in his flat tone.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded. “I commanded you not to come!”

I also hadn’t told him where I was, but that made no difference. With his bonds of service, Volusian would always be able to locate me. Still, I figured not giving him any concrete information beforehand would be useful, in the event someone attempted to wrestle control of him from me. Likewise, I’d commanded him to avoid the Otherworld altogether, in the hopes of keeping him off the radars of those who might try to use him.

“Yes, mistress,” he agreed. “And were it up to me, I assure you, I would stay out of your presence for as long as possible, unless I was coming to end your life and rip you limb from limb.”

“Well, that’s very thoughtful,” I said. “And yet, here you are.”

“Others forced me to, mistress.”

I’d nearly relaxed, but this set me on high alert again. Sending my mind out, I tested the magical bonds that kept him under my control, half expecting them to have vanished. But no, we were still solidly connected.

“Rest assured, mistress, I am still enslaved to you,” he said, guessing what I’d done.

“Then how the hell did others force you to come here?”

“With enough magic, it is possible to compel me to obey small commands while still bound to you,” he explained.